Azariait horace hastings



(No Model.)

A. H. HASTINGS. PEDAL FOOT FOR PIANOS.

No. 480,696. Patented Aug. 9, 1892.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AZARIAII HORACE HASTINGS, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

PEDAL-FOOT FOR PIANOS.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of- Letters Patent No. 480,696, datedAugust 9, 1892.

Application filed March 24,1892- Serial No. 426,178. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AZARIAH HORACE IIAST- INGS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of New York city, county and State of New York,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pedal-Feet for Pianos andSimilar Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a latch pedal-foot for pianosand similar instruments where it is necessary to lock the pedal in afixed position to produce any desired effect without continually holdingthe toe or foot upon the pedal, which will be inexpensive, neat inappearance, and can be adjusted by the footin its different positionsindependently of the other pedals or appliances, and which enables anartist to produce Eonfial gradations which have a beautiful ef- Thisinvention consists in a latch -1ever which is applied under thepedal-foot, passing up through the front of the same, showing a littleknob which is all that is exposed to view different from the ordinarypedal-foot, the back end passing up through the pedalfoot to operate andlock in the bottom rail of the case by the direct pressure of a springupon the latch-lever, which is adapted to be locked by the pressure ofthe toe upon the pedal-foot and released and made to travel freely likethe ordinary pedal by pressing the toe upon the knob I and pedal-foot,which keeps the latch from locking.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is aside view of a pedal-foot, latch-lever, and actuating-spring, andsectional view of the bottom rail and bottom board of the case, showingthe pedalfoot and parts in a normal position with a toe pressing uponthe pedal-foot in aposition to cause it to lock, and also a toe in aposition to prevent it from looking or release it from a lockedposition. Fig. 2 shows the same depressed to itslowest position andlocked with a toe in a position to cause it to lock. Fig. 3 representsmy invention applied to the ordinary straight pedal-foot.

I have in Figs. 1 and 2 illustrated the horn pedal-foot arranged to pulldown the traplever. It may be arranged to lift without any change of thelocking device and the or dinary straight pedal-foot may be used, asshown in Fig. 3, in the same manner by passing the back end of thelatch-lever into an aperture in the bottom rail to operate upon a catchand not be exposed to view or upon the front side, if the exposure is noobjection.

I take the pedal-foot A of any ordinary construction and make a hole Bthrough the front or toe end A. I construct a latch-lever C, situatedunder the pedal-foot A, extending it back to a position near or underthe bottom rail D, where I pass it up through the pedal-foot andpivot-ally attach it to the pedalfoot A. The rear end of thislatch-lever I run up to a height from the top surface of the pedal-foota little longer than the required distance of the travel of thepedal-foot at that point and arrange the end to lock in notches E in thebottom rail. I arrange a spring F in a convenient position to press uponthe lever and hold its back end against the bottom rail unless preventedby a pressure upon the other end or knob I of the lever, which passes upthrough the toe of the pedal-foot in the form of a knob and is the onlypart exposed to view and does not mar the appearance of the pedal-foot.

It will be observed that by pressing the toe G upon the pedal-foot, asshown in Fig. 1,the'

latch-lever is free to be actuated by the spring F, which presses thelatch against the casebar D, and as the pedal-foot is depressed it willbe free to pass into the notches E and lock in that position by a directspring-pressure against the latch-lever and bottom rail, as shown inFig. 2. To disengage the latch from its locked position, the toe H ispressed upon the knob I until the toe comes in contact with thepedal-foot. In this position the latch is disengaged and held free fromlooking in its travel, as shown in Fig.

hat I claim as my invention is 1. In a piano or similar instrument, thepedal-foot A, in combination with the latchlever 0, applied under thepedal-foot A and arranged to look by direct spi'iiigpi'essure,substantially as set forth.

2. The pedal-foot A, in combination with IGO pressure upon the bottomrail of the case or its equivalent, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 have signed myname, in pres- 15 ence of two Witnesses, this 22d day of March, 1892.

AZARIAH HORACE HASTINGS.

Witnesses:

HARRIE A. HASTINGS, JAMES HANLEY.

